A Smile Like That
by Jedi Trace
Summary: LM Romance. Luke and Mara share a few quiet moments after their engagement. Vignette.


Genre: Luke/Mara romance

Setting: _Vision of the Future_

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: George owns it, I don't.

**A SMILE LIKE THAT **

_**Beautiful**_

Sitting in the copilot's seat, Luke watched as Mara entered the coordinates for the New Republic headquarters on Adumar. Her hands flitted over the controls of the stolen Chiss vessel as if she had been flying it for years. Their movements mesmerized him.

He had never really looked at her hands before. Weeks of living in primitive conditions on Nirauan had left them chapped and peppered with tiny scratches. Her fingers were long and slender and even broken, jagged fingernails could not detract from their inherent graceful movements.

Glancing up from the controls, she reached over and clasped his left hand. Lacing his fingers between hers, Luke felt the areas of hardened skin on the inside edges of her index finger and thumb from years of lightsaber use.

Mara spoke quietly, "I don't suppose a Jedi can ever have smooth hands."

"No," Luke answered softly, caressing her callused fingers with his own. He half expected her to pull away from his touch, as she had in the past. Instead, she returned his gentle contact with soft, reassuring pressure. Holding her hand felt natural, without any of the awkwardness normally associated with new love. Then again, perhaps their love wasn't new, just newfound.

His eyes traveled to her profile. Her hair, still damp from their near-drowning experience in the cave, hung loosely around her face and over her shoulders. He released her hand to brush a stray lock from her face and, for the first time, noticed a thin, faint scar just below the hairline of her forehead. It looked old.

She answered his unspoken question, "Happened when I was young. I'll tell you about it sometime."

He smiled, unable to tear his eyes away from her face. Her lips had finally returned to a normal color after their recent brush with hypothermia. Ironically, he thought of the grand admirals, generals, even the ghosts of dead Sith lords who had retreated before verbal assaults from those lips...yet they had been soft and tender when he'd kissed them.

Finally satisfied that she had plotted the course correctly, Mara turned to him and smiled. It was a warm smile radiating from deep, genuine affection. He couldn't remember seeing a smile like it before.

Reaching across the console, he plucked a tiny twig from her hair. She had never looked more beautiful.

_**Brilliant**_

They reached the New Republic base early the next morning. Mara barely remembered being directed to her assigned quarters and collapsing onto the bed. She woke up fourteen hours later and immersed herself in a long, hot shower before going to meet Luke.

She found him sitting in one of the communication center terminals. Leia's face appeared on the small vid screen and she heard Luke's reassuring voice, "Yes...I'm fine...Mara is with me...we're all right..."

_More than all right_, Mara thought as Leia rattled off coordinates for a rendezvous. She gazed at the man who would be her husband. _Husband_. The very thought was surreal and ignited a sudden thrill of trepidation deep in her stomach. _Was he sure?_

She knew that her past didn't bother him. In fact, he was the only person who laughed at her occasional, irreverent impersonations of Emperor Palpatine. The topics of Force lightning and what _not_ to say to a dark side user were also a running joke between them.

Ending the transmission, Luke turned around and smiled. Stars, had he always been so attractive? The whole room seemed to light up with that smile and Mara wondered briefly if he had just won the HoloNet Sweepstakes.

His smile grew even brighter as she approached, its radiance instantly dispersing her cloud of apprehension. No man had ever looked at her like that before and her whole body warmed at his adoration.

She wrapped her arm around his waist as he loaded the rendezvous coordinates to a datapad. His closeness took her breath away. There hadn't been time or facilities for non-essential hygiene on Nirauan and he had sported almost two weeks of beard growth by the time they'd left. She studied his now clean-shaven face, only centimeters from her own, and imagined how his smooth cheeks would feel against her lips.

Tucking the datapad into his belt, he turned and encircled her with his arms. She flushed slightly, wondering if he had heard her thoughts.

"Hungry?" he asked, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Starving."

_**Breathless**_

They dined alone in Mara's quarters, grateful for a real meal and savoring the solitude before the inevitable onslaught of questions once they returned. Sitting on the lounger, they watched alien stars twinkling through the balcony doors.

"What time should we leave tomorrow?" she asked.

"No later than 0600 if we're going to make the rendezvous with Han and Leia." Luke glanced at his chrono. It was getting late.

Mara turned to face him, "And where do we go from here?"

"You mean the coordinates?" he asked.

"No," she laughed, brushing his hair lightly with her fingers. "I mean us. Where do _we_ go?"

"Well, I believe a wedding is customary," he grinned.

She tapped his arm in exasperation, "I'm serious. Neither of us has a ship anymore. I have duties to Karrde, for now; you have the Academy. For starters, where will we live?"

He silenced her with a touch to her lips, "We'll work it out." His fingers caressed her cheek then moved softly to the back of her neck. Pulling her close, he pressed his lips against hers as a soft breeze ruffled her hair.

Separating gently, she whispered, "And where do we go from _here_?"

"Anywhere you want," he murmured.

A sudden gust blew the balcony doors open revealing a meteor shower in the indigo sky. Mara rose from the lounger and walked onto the terrace, grateful for the cool breeze against the sudden warmth in her face.

"It's stunning," she said quietly, as Luke joined her on the balcony.

"Yes, it is," he agreed, watching the reflection of the stars in her eyes. "I've never seen anything like it."

Leaning into his embrace, she couldn't help but notice the firmness of the muscles in his arms as he ran his fingers lightly through her hair. "It's late," he said quietly. "I should go."

Mara stepped back, caressing his face with her eyes and replied simply, "Stay."

His heart skipped a beat at her unspoken invitation, "Are you sure?"

She smiled. A roguish smile he _knew_ he had never seen before and one that he hoped never to forget.

"Oh yes," she took his hand, still smiling, "I'm sure."

**End**


End file.
